Tokyo - Shibuya

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After a very entertaining two days in Akihabara we moved to another neighborhood in Tokyo called Shibuya. This area is known for its shopping, restaurants and "Love hotels" (which me and Ryan found out the hard way). But its most famous sight must be the Shibuya Crossing. It is one of the most photographed places in Tokyo with a hug amount of people crossing diagonal as well as the the common horizontal and vertical manner. This area is also everything Times Square wishes it was - there are more huge screens than anywhere else in the world.

We took the metro from Akihabara to Shibuya which was quite easy after a look at the map. Be warned though as some of the Metro stations in Tokyo are signed in English and other parts are not, so make sure you map out your route before you jump on the train.

We left the station with no clue at all on where we were going to stay and with heavy packs on we set out towards the hilly area to find a hotel. We turned left from the station and walked for around five minutes, we found a hotel named "Hotel Silk" and entered to ask for a nights stay. The attendant found it strange we were asking for a night and pushed a piece of paper to us showing that you pay for the hour or every three hours. While we were trying to work out why, the lift opened and a very beautiful young lady walked out with an overweight man in his 40's wearing a business suit. That is when the penny dropped that this was a famous "Love Hotel" so we made our way out and proceeded to enter two more of these establishments before getting directions to a normal hotel.

We ended up staying in a place called "The Hotel Tokyu" which was rather on the expensive side but Tokyo is expensive wherever you go, it was about £100pp for the night. After putting our stuff away we decided to do a bit of shopping in the centre Gai and go on the Shibuya Crossing. After buying a couple of cool Japanese t-shirts we headed back for a quick change of clothes and then out for the night.

We eat just a couple of blocks away in a very classical Japanese restaurant where we eat Sashimi, washed down with a bottle of Sake. We then decided to head to the only Irish bar in Tokyo and have a quick Guinness (very traditional). We meet two PR guys called Ralph (American) and Tony (English) who after a few beers talked us into going to Karaoke - something that me and Ry have never done before. So we went to the Karaoke with the the guys and there girlfriends.

We stayed there for around five hours, singing everything from Elton John to Linkin Park. Everyone sung their favourite song of all time - Jake (Slide away by Oasis, 2/10), Ryan (Ring of fire - Johnny Cash 3/10), Tony (Rocketman - Elton John 9/10) and finally Ralph (Another one bites the dust, Queen 4/10). They paid for the Karaoke and we were plied full of free beer for the whole night. We ended up leaving the place around 4:00am and stumbled back to the hotel.

Shibuya is a great neighborhood full of young trendy people that love to show off there style of fashion. I would recommend coming here at least for a day but stay a couple if your wallets allows you. This was one of the best days spent in Japan - we would pay for it dearly though the following day.

The next day was a right off - we slept in until 1pm and then headed for food. That night we headed to another neighborhood called Ginza - the equivalent to New York's Fifth Ave, Chicago's Magnificent Mile or London's Oxford Street. This place beats all of these famous western names and still would if you morphed them all together.

We visited the Sony Building which was magnificent with some really cutting edge technology - one for the geek squad again. We also visited many clothing shops to buy a gift for my girlfriend (she loves it when I go away traveling). We also went into a toy shop and I saw the biggest Scalectrix track in my whole life. It is full of magnificent bright buildings and is a must do for any tourist visiting Tokyo.

We went home and packed ready for a early night because we were traveling to Hiroshima with a quick stop in Kobe.

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Photos

Shibuya Crossing
This is at around 11am. You can triple it at least when it is rush hour.

Ginza
The shopping District of Ginza. Photo taken right outside of Sony Building.

Metro
On the metro - by far the best Underground trains I have ever been on!!

Karaoke
Ralph, Me and Ry. Good night.

Shibuya
One of the many buildings in Shibuya.

Karaoke
Ralph's Girlfriend

Shopping
centre Gai

Sony Building
Best Audio I have ever heard.